Auto service indicator



July 7, 1925.

C. D. RULE AUTO SERVICE INDICATOR Filed Oct. 27. 1923 an, automobile should be Patented' July 7, 1925;

CHARLES D. RULE, lor-Kansas CITY, MISSOURI.

Y AUTO SERVICE INDICATOR.

Application mea october 27, 1923. serial nasvmoz.

Toall whom-it concern:

Be it'known-thatl, Crraxuts D. RULE, a citizen .of the -United States, and .resident of Kansas City, Jackson 4`County, Missouri,

have invented a certain newV anduseful 1mprovexnent in Auto, Service Indicators, of

'which the following is a complete specifica- -This invention service indicators 4for use in indicating to theowner vor other persons interested, the exact time when greased, theoil changed, the battery attended to, fresh water inflate and, of cou 'may be employed tc indicate other conditions if-iound desirable. The devicel embodying the invention vis primarily intended to form a part ofthe instrument board of the motor car andto be readilyaccessible for ins ection and setting of the mechanism accor ing to the service requirements of the car.

Under the present practice taxi'cab andother companies employing a fleet of cars, keep amore or less accurate account of the service mentioned by means of charts maintained in the garage, but as far'as the private owner is concerned nothing has been provided by the automobile companies whereby he may easilyand readily keep an 'accurate record ofthe absoluly-essential upkeepA of his car. Even if the owner does not attend to the oiling and greasing,` it is impossible for the garage or service station attendin `to these details to know just when any oft em have been performed, as the owner usually forgets or is careless in his attempt to maintain a record.

The prime object of the invention, therefore, is to maintain readily accessible and convenient, a means which the owner or other person may, as soon as any of the necessary service duties have been performed,

set to @indicate the next time the same duty must be carried out. For instance, it is desirable to change the oil in the crank case of a car eve five hundred miles. With the device of t e invention, the operator will progressively advance certain indicating cylinders by steps of five hundred miles, according to the reading of the speedometer, immediately after each change of oil. YVhen the speedometer indicates that the car has travelled five hundred miles, the car will be oiled and the cylinder reset to accord with the speedometer reading at this time,

(placed in the radiator, and the tires and so on indelinitely,the result being that the cylinder will always indicate the mileage. at'the time of last oiling. Again, saythe battery should be tested every month. Immediately after each batterytcst, the operator will advance the corresponding, cylinder to indicate the dateof such test. This cylinder will thus always indicate the date of the last battery test. It is therefore, necessary to provide a cylinder for each service Y duty as willbe readily understood.

With the-object named in view', the invention consists in certain novel and useful features of construction and organization of parts as hereinafterdesc'ribedand claimed;

`and in order .that it may be 4fully understood, reference is to behad to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a face view of a service indicator embodying the invention as it will appear when assembled for use on an instrument board of amotor car. A

Figure 2 is afrear view of the same with a dust housing or casing removed from pot sition.-

Figure 3 is a section on the line III-III of Figure 1 with position.

Figure 4 is a section on the line IV-IV the housing or casing in l of -Figure 1 with thehousing or casing .in A

position.

Figure 5` an enlarged detailed sectional view to illustrate a part of the invention not otherwise sutliciently shown. In the said drawing, where like reference characters identify corresponding parts in all of the ligures, 1 indicates a suitable metallie or other face plate, provided as illustrated, with six simila.. rectangular openings 2 for the exhibition of certain registering cylinders hereinafter referred to.

Rveted Aor otherwise rigidly 'secured to the rear side of the face plate a'nd adjacent the opposite edges of the same are a pair of.

vertically extending L-shapcd brackets 3, each of said brackets being provided with alined perforations in groups of two.`v Secured to the face plate and centrally bctween the brackets 3, is a U-sllaped bracket 4, formed in its opposite legs with groups of perforations registering respectively with the groups in the adjacent side brackets 3.

Rigidly secured between cach of the side .brackets 3 and the adjacent leg ofv the 'bracket 4, are barlcls 5, each being maintained in fixed positioniliy means of bolt and nut supports 6, the bolts passing through the registering perforations of the brackets, and loosely journaled on said barrels are a plurality of rotatable rings 7, each of said rings being provided periphcrally with suitable numbers or letter-carrying rings 8.

It is to be understood that the openings 2 in the face plate are so spaced that each opening will exhibit a row ofthe data appearing on its respective rings, and that in order to maintain position with regard to the openings, each arrel 5.i in alinement with each of its rings is formed with a bore or opening 9 within which anexpansion spring 10 is snugly received. -Forced down uponthe spring and projected thereby is a resistance foot or detent 11,'which is formed with a Il at face 12, thus providing a pair of sharp corners for impingement against the under face of. its respective ring.` The pressure ofthe spring will provide sutlicient friction to guard against the accidental rotation of the ring. In orderto provide-means whereby the cylinders may be 'set from -time to time, as found desirable, a perforation 13 through the cylinderand into the cylinder 7 is' provided between each of the numbers or letters of the column of indicating data appearing on each ring. The operator will insert the point of a pencil` or other ,instru- 1 ment into an opening y 13 through the openin 2 of the face plate and will then manrevolve the cylinder until further movement is stoppedthrough abutment of the p encil with the vopposite wall of said opening 2, the spring actuated friction foot 1-1 locking the cylinder against accidental rotation.

The cylinder and supporting brackets are enclosed in a suitable dust and dirt proof casing 14 secured in any suitable manner to the rear side of the face plate 2. Secured to the front side of the face plate is a celluloid oriother plate 15 which is formed with rectangular openings registering with the openings 2 of the face plate, and below each of said openings is printed indicating phrases, such as Oil change every 500 miles", Grease car every G0() miles` Battery the proper data in fixedV ices mentioned are arranged to indicate the months-and days o'f the month.

The face of the indicator 1s equippedwithv a glass closure member 16 hinged along one of its side edges to the face pla-te and provided at its opposite edge with a suitable lock 17 to prevent unauthorized tampering with the cylinders of the indicator and thus defeating the purpose for lwhich it is provided.

It A'will'ibe evident from the above that each cylinder will be set ahead according to the directions appearing on the plate 15 after each service operation, and that such cylindersA will always indicate to the driver when such service operation should again be carried out, thus providing a positive check for the information of the person customarily servicing the car. y

From the above description, it will be ap# parent-that I have produced a device of the character set forth which possesses all the features of advantage set forth as desirable` and while I have described and claimed the preferred embodiment of the same, it is to beundersto'od that I reserve the right toj make all changes properly falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

A Aservice indicator comprising a lface plate adapted to be secured to a motor car and provided withan opening, rearwardlybrackets secured to the back of projecting said face plate;` a solid barrel member bridging the space between said braces, ia `pair of bolts securing said barrel in position between the brackets and against rotation, and a series of indicating cylinders rotatably encircling said barrel and having indicia. adapted to register with the opening in said plate.

In witness whereof I hereunto atlix my signature.

CHARLES D. RULE. 

